ABSTRACT
States are influenced in their conduct by the existence of the force of other states, just as individual men are influenced by the force residing in others of their own kind. From the fact that states are corporations of which the members are human beings, it naturally follows that they are, for the most part, subject to the operation of forces and influences corresponding to those by which the conduct of individuals is regulated. A small community does not lightly attack, or bear itself in a menacing attitude, towards a Great Power. Any state, indeed, before embarking upon hostilities against another, takes into consideration the force which it appears to possess. In the Middle Ages sacerdotal authority was frequently exercised over states and their rulers. Positive Law is dependent upon the existence of the controlling power in a state.
